Astex gets L7.5M loan for development work

UK-based Oxford Finance Company, a division of Japanese drugmaker Sumitomo, and the financial services division of GE Healthcare have provided a joint L7.5 million ($15.3 million) senior secured loan to UK drug discovery and development firm Astex Therapeutics. Astex said that the loan, which is one of the largest provided by venture firms to any European biotechnology group, would enable considerable flexibility in its ongoing operations.

Commenting on the loan, Alden Philbrick, OFC's president, said the firm was proud to work with GE to provide financial support to Astex' significant drug development initiatives. He went on to say that the firm was especially pleased to "participate in a precedent-setting transaction with one of the leading companies in the UK's growing biotech industry."

Astex' chief financial officer, John Aston, explained that "the financing provided to us by Oxford and GE Healthcare Financial Services is an attractive and innovative supplement to the more traditional private equity route." He added that the funds would primarily be used to further the discovery and development of small-molecule drug candidates in its oncology program. Further financial terms were not provided.